The Price of Ambition
by Serpentine Wisdom
Summary: Somehow, he had always known it would come down to this. 10027 original timeline


**Title:** The Price of Ambition**  
Author: **Waruji**  
Fandom: **Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**  
Status**: Drabble**  
Characters: **Tsuna, Byakuran**  
Pairing:** 10027**  
Word Count:** 874**  
Rating:** T**  
Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! or any of its characters and I'm not making any profit out of this.**  
Summary:** Somehow, he had always known it would come down to this. 10027 (original timeline).**  
Author notes:** Just a little something I wrote to accompany this pic (remove the spaces) http:// waruji. deviantart. com/art/The-Price-of-Ambition-114689939

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"_Ambition is so powerful a passion in the human breast that however high we reach, we are never satisfied."_

– Niccolo Machiavelli

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From the moment he first laid eyes on Byakuran; first saw his congenial, secretive smile and heard his calm amused voice, there had never been any other conclusion to their story than this. Tsuna had known, he had _always known_, but he had still been drawn to him in a way he never had to Kyoko –_Kyoko who was too pure for the world he lived in_– and he still touched the blossoming red on his dress shirt with stunned surprise. It was dark against the pale blue of his shirt, he could almost believe he had spilled something on himself.

But the damp, darkness spread out all on its own and the small but sinisterly gaping holes in the fabric tore away the last vestiges of illusion quickly. Tsuna swayed as he struggled to remain upright; even in his own ears his breathing was laboured and a strange gurgling sound followed every struggling intake of air. He had never experienced a pain like this before. Never, despite the lifestyle he had been half dragged, half stumbled into. It hurt so badly he thought his insides had been shredded and each bullet had felt like a sledgehammer.

Tsuna still lifted his head, his vision spinning at the movement, to stare at Byakuran's face. There was only the two of them here in this eerily beautiful forest; their respective subordinates were far off. They stared at each other but no words passed between them. Tsuna didn't make any strangled accusations or pitiful cries to ask why, _why_ this had happened –_he already knew_– and Byakuran didn't reveal any complicated Machiavellian plot and offered no grand revelations in form of an explanation. Not a single excuse slipped over the down turned line of his lips.

The mouth that Tsuna had kissed so many times didn't have the line of amused satisfaction people would have expected of someone who had just pulled of something many would have considered impossible – to take down the infamous Vongola Godfather, and, subsequently, the Vongola. Instead the look on his features was so cold and hard that it ached Tsuna's heart and it hurt almost as much as the gunshot wounds.

It had always been difficult to tell what the Millefiore boss was thinking behind his carefully upheld mask of cheerfulness but Tsuna had seen enough to know that Byakuran, possessed by his own ambition, was calmly and methodically killing himself from the inside out.

'_Too late,'_ Tsuna thought with despair, he had been too late to save him, even though the Vongola rings and their temptation were gone. Gone so there wouldn't be any blood shed over them, he had told his guardians. Gone so there wouldn't be any bloodshed between the Vongola and the Millefiore, between _Tsuna and Byakuran_, his heart had whispered.

Tsuna coughed and blood sprayed out, trickling down his mouth. He had never wanted this day to come; had hoped he had been wrong, but he had known that wasn't the case. Despite that, he hadn't been able to take action. He hadn't even been able to bring himself to stay away because he could see his own feelings returned, genuinely and strongly in Byakuran's eyes and it had drawn him in like a moth to the flame – and the analogy fit so well it wasn't even funny. This time, it seemed, love just wasn't enough. His love hadn't been enough.

Still, he had more people he loved then just Byakuran, people who trusted him and looked to him for protection. He couldn't let them down, he refused to, but like a coward he left it to his past self to do what he couldn't and put an end to the Millefiore of this time. He left it to his younger self to save his family, his friends and, he hoped, to save Byakuran from himself. This timeline was done, but the new one held hope Tsuna had abandoned the second his heart ignored reality to skip a merry dance just for the Millefiore boss.

He didn't know what would come with the changed timeline; it could be better then this, but it could also be worse – he had no way of knowing. Despite that, this was all he could do. He had toyed with the idea, to lift his hand against Byakuran but this scene in itself was proof he couldn't bring himself to do it – even when it cost him more then he could afford.

'_I'm sorry, everyone,'_ he thought. _'For all of this.'_

Despite that he didn't regret anything. He was grieved for how it had all played out, he wanted to change it desperately, but he didn't regret his decisions. He felt strangely calm and the pain was starting to fade away. Then he saw Byakuran's lips moving but he couldn't hear the words pouring out.

He tried to reach out his hand toward his murderer, and strained to speak but the last of his strength was gone and he was unable to communicate the last words he wanted to say. Then the world tilted and the last thing he saw was Byakuran framed by the icy blue sky.

'_I still love you.'_ The fading light in his eyes signalled in his stead.

**The end.**

**Author notes:** This takes place in the original timeline Byakuran and Tsuna fell in love but Byakuran was a really, _really_ ambitious man and eventually that made him kill Tsuna even though his feelings for the Vongola boss were genuine. The price for Byakuran's ambition was losing everything he cared for by his own hand.


End file.
